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Windows Virtual PC - Windows 98 installation fails

Question

I've tried it a few times now: Windows 98SE installation in Windows Virtual PC fails. I boot from the CD (.iso), fdisk + format the (virtual, 9000 MB, dynamic) HDD, copy the windows 98 folder on the virtual HDD and boot into DOS from the HDD. Then I go to the win98 folder and start setup, it does look good in the beginning, but it fails after the reboot with the "wait 15 seconds to reboot or click here to reboot now" message window, is sticks at the "Windows 98" boot logo, if you hit a key the animation stops, the virtual machine is stopped and can only be powered off. Normally it would display "updating configuration files" in the DOS before continuing Windows 98 setup (and then asking for name and company and keycode). In the Virtual BIOS: APIC off/on and PnP OS off/on tried in all four possible combination. No Network: Tried.

Answers

Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 does work on Windows 7 just fine. People who don't have hardware assisted virtualization need to use VPC 2007 SP1 instead of Windows 7 VPC. Nothing wrong with that. There is a hotfix for VPC 2007 SP1 that should be installed: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958162

Virtual PC 2007 SP1 supports Windows 98. Windows 7 Virtual PC does not. But that doesn't mean it won't work. Here is someting to try. Save the vhd and vmc files created by VPC 2007 SP1. Uninstall VPC 2007. Install Windows 7 VPC. Double-click the vmc file and see if it works under Windows 7 VPC.

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Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 does work on Windows 7 just fine. People who don't have hardware assisted virtualization need to use VPC 2007 SP1 instead of Windows 7 VPC. Nothing wrong with that. There is a hotfix for VPC 2007 SP1 that should be installed: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958162

Virtual PC 2007 SP1 supports Windows 98. Windows 7 Virtual PC does not. But that doesn't mean it won't work. Here is someting to try. Save the vhd and vmc files created by VPC 2007 SP1. Uninstall VPC 2007. Install Windows 7 VPC. Double-click the vmc file and see if it works under Windows 7 VPC.

Thank you for that "official" answer on Windows 7 Virtual PC with Windows 98, and for hinting to that KB entry. Hardware assisted virtualisation is available and active (and used by VPC 2007). Do I have to reinstall KB 969856 after that again? vmm.sys from KB 958162 is 1.1.654.0, from KB 969856 has version 1.1.656.0

People who don't have hardware assisted virtualization need to use VPC 2007 SP1 instead of Windows 7 VPC

This is not true. Those without hardware assisted virtualization can either download Step 4 on the XP Mode downloads page or they can upgrade to Windows 7 SP1, in which case no special software is needed.

It makes no difference whether or not you have hardware assisted virtualization. You can virtualize Windows 98 with WVPC. WVPC will run fine on W7. VPC 2007 runs on both XP Pro and W7.

I would like to point out an issue when dual booting XP and later versions of Windows. You need to protect W7 from XP's volsnap.sys file. That is the volume shadowcopy services driver and XP's destroys W7's shadowcopy based files every time you boot
into XP unless you unmount the W7 partition at XP boot time. The solution is

If you have not done the registry edit in XP you should. Otherwise you lose restore points, backups, previous versions, etc. whenever XP starts up.

My urgency is to scan as many paper documents as I can into my current computer.

What scanner are you using that has to have Windows 98? VPC 2007 does not support usb devices like scanners so I don't think that will help you. WVPC does, but does not have integration components for W98. The best solution is VMWare Player.
It has VMWare Tools for Windows 98. If you are having a problem installing Windows 98 it may be because you are not following VMWare's specific instructions for installing Windows 98SE. See
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf, pages 21 and 22.

You can download a floppy disk .iso file for use in the VMWare Player emulated floppy drive from Steve Jain's website. He also has a prebuilt Win98 vm there. Look for "Windows
98 ready VMC and VFD: Partitioned and formatted, includes a
Win98 EBD.
Just add your Win98 ISO/CD-ROM, License key and go" on

People who don't have hardware assisted virtualization need to use VPC 2007 SP1 instead of Windows 7 VPC

This is not true. Those without hardware assisted virtualization can either download Step 4 on the XP Mode downloads page or they can upgrade to Windows 7 SP1, in which case no special software is needed.

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